BOSTON (AP)  Ferry operators, whale watching captains, port representatives and others that do business on the water said Monday that a proposed speed limit for boats along stretches of the East Coast to help protect endangered whales from deadly collisions could put them out of business, hurt tourism and threaten timely shipments.

At the last of three public hearings on the proposal by the National Marine Fisheries Service, representatives from the industry agreed that measures should be taken to protect the North Atlantic right whale, but said the speed limit suggestion was too extreme.

"It's not like reducing highway speed on I-95 for a day during a snow storm," said Tom Valleau, executive director of the North Atlantic Ports Association Inc. He said ocean commerce can't bounce back as quickly after disruptions to a shipping schedule as overland services can.

The fisheries service is proposing a mandatory speed restriction of 10 knots, about 11.5 mph, for vessels 65 feet or longer in certain areas when the North Atlantic right whales are active.

About 300 North Atlantic right whales live in the Northern Hemisphere. They have been listed as endangered since 1970. Ship strikes are responsible for about half of all known, human-caused deaths of the mammals, which tend to swim near the water's surface and often don't notice their surroundings when they eat, according to the fisheries service.

Environmentalists and whale activists endorsed the proposals for the most part, but urged the fisheries service to extend some of the time periods for the speed limit.

"Quite frankly, ladies and gentlemen, we're between a rock and a hard place," said Greg Silber, one of the authors of the proposal in the Office of Protected Resources at the fisheries service in Silver Spring, Md.

Silber said reducing ship speeds to 10 knots would reduce the number and severity of ship strikes and promote population growth and recovery. The agency asked for public comment on the proposal to set the speed limit at 10 knots, but also has prepared alternative proposals establishing 12- and 14-knot speed limits.

Small business owners spoke up. George Blanchard captains a 130-foot whale watching vessel out of Barnstable. He said speed limits during certain time periods and in designated areas where whales were present would put him out of business, despite that his business is all about watching whales.

"I would have to close my doors," he said. He said reducing speeds would lengthen his tours and people wouldn't want to go on them. That, he added, would hurt tourism in the area.

Ferry service to top tourist spots including Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard and Provincetown would also be adversely affected because passengers wouldn't want to endure longer rides, said Ed Welch, the legislative director for the Passenger Vessel Association in Virginia.

"I don't think it's a stretch to say the rules as proposed threatens the existence of ferry service in the east," Welch said.

Welch suggested a two-tier approach that would impose different rules for large cargo and cruise ships compared to small businesses including whale watching outfits and ferry services. He also recommended other measures to avoid striking whales, such as radar and mandating a designated watcher on boats.

But Silber said a speed reduction is scientifically proven to reduce whale strikes.

"The restrictions are based on tens of thousands of pages of research and data. This will help get the population back on track," he said.

In the whales' nursery grounds off southern Georgia and northern Florida, the mandatory speed limit would apply from Nov. 15 through April 15. Along their mid-Atlantic migratory route from northern Georgia to Rhode Island, the restriction would begin Nov. 1 and end April 30.

Off the Massachusetts coast, where right whales feed from January through July, restrictions would be implemented in Cape Cod Bay from Jan. 1 through mid-May; off Race Point at the northern end of Cape Cod from March 1 through April 30 and the Great South Channel from April 1 through July 21.

Federal vessels would be excluded.

Two other public meetings on the proposal were held this month in Jacksonville, Fla., and Baltimore, Md. The agency will continue to take written public comments until October, when the fisheries service will make a recommendation to the secretary of commerce, who makes the final decision.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.